Distance Detector

ABSTRACT

A distance detecting device is mounted on a user&#39;s vehicle to detect a distance between the user&#39;s vehicle and a leading vehicle moving in front of the user&#39;s vehicle. The distance detecting device communicates with a processing device, which applies race based distance rules to determine whether the user&#39;s vehicle is close to or incurring a penalty based at least on the distance between the user&#39;s vehicle and the leading vehicle. An indication can be given to the user regarding an impending penalty and/or when a penalty is incurred. Similarly, the device can be read to apply a penalty. Various modifications can be made to allow for recording, display, and transmission of racing and penalty statistics, enabling and disabling recordation of penalty occurrences, tailoring the penalty determinations to a given race, and mounting the distance detecting device to a vehicle.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.61/788,226, filed Mar. 15, 2013, which application is incorporated byreference in its entirety herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present subject matter relates generally to distance detectors andmore particularly to a distance detector for use in enforcing distancebased regulations and related penalties in a race setting.

BACKGROUND

In various race settings, a racer can obtain an advantage by racingclosely behind another racer. This advantage is caused by the leadingracer's causing a disturbance in the air. The following rider generallywill experience less drag by racing in the disturbed air created by theleading racer. Therefore, the following racer will exert less energy andeffort by traveling in the disturbed air. Traveling in the disturbed aircaused by another racer is called drafting.

Because of this advantage gained by drafting, various races have variousrules regarding how long a following racer may travel within a givendistance behind another racer. For example, in the biking portion of atriathlon, riders can only race within a given distance behind andwithin lateral distance to the side of a leading racer for a particularamount of time for a penalty is assessed against the drafting rider.Accurately assessing such penalties is difficult in a bicycle racesetting, however, because judges cannot be effectively placed to coveran entire race course in a typical event.

SUMMARY

Generally speaking, and pursuant to these various embodiments,apparatuses and methods are described for monitoring distance behind amoving vehicle. In one example, the distance detecting device is mountedon a user's vehicle to detect a distance between the user's vehicle anda leading vehicle moving in front of the user's vehicle. The distancedetecting device communicates with a processing device, which appliesrace based distance rules to determine whether the user's vehicle isclose to or incurring a penalty based at least on the distance betweenthe user's vehicle and the leading vehicle. An indication can be givento the user regarding an impending penalty and/or when a penalty isincurred. Various modifications can be made to allow for recording,display, and transmission of racing and penalty statistics, enabling anddisabling recordation of penalty occurrences, tailoring the penaltydeterminations to a given race, and mounting the distance detectingdevice to a vehicle.

For instance, the distance detector and be configured to mount on any ofseveral portions of a bicycle in an aerodynamic manner to notify a riderof whether he or she is riding within a penalty distance of anotherrider and whether a penalty is about to be assessed. This informationcan be transmitted to race officials to apply the correct penalty to theracer. So configured, race rules can be more accurately and consistentlyapplied in a racing context.

Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the examples willbe set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings or may be learned byproduction or operation of the examples. The objects and advantages ofthe concepts may be realized and attained by means of the methodologies,instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord withthe present concepts, by way of example only, not by way of limitations.In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similarelements.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example distance sensing device systemin accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example distance detector inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of one end of the example distance detector ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the mount portion of the exampledistance detector of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an example pin used with a mount inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example process for readingsignals from a distance sensing device in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of one example approach to a distancedetector in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of an example approach to a distancedetector having two processors in accordance with various embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example process for readingsignals from a distance sensing device in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioningof some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative toother elements to help to improve understanding of various embodimentsof the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements thatare useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are oftennot depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of thesevarious embodiments. It will further be appreciated that certain actionsand/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order ofoccurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that suchspecificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It willalso be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have theordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressionsby persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above exceptwhere different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, an exampleapparatus 100 for monitoring distance behind a moving vehicle will bedescribed. The apparatus 100 includes a housing 105 configured to mountto a user's vehicle 110. The housing 105 contains at least a distancesensing device 115 configured to output a signal proportional to adistance X between the distance sensing device 115 and a leading vehicle120. Any self-contained distance sensor (one not needing a correspondingdevice on the object from which distance is measured) can be used. Inone example, a sonar based sensor can be used, such as theXL-MAXSONAR—WR1 or WR2 sonar range finder from MAXBOTIX, although othersuch devices can be used. In such an example, the distance sensingdevice 115 will output a signal such as a voltage that is proportionalto the distance between the senor and a sensed object, such as a leadingvehicle 120. The leading vehicle 120 will change through the use of theapparatus as different vehicles take a position in front of the user'svehicle 110; accordingly, reference to a leading vehicle need notnecessarily always refer to the same leading vehicle unless explicitlystated. The housing 105 also contains a processing device 125 incommunication with the distance sensing device 115 to receive thesignal.

With momentary reference to FIG. 6, one approach to reading the signalfrom the distance sensing device 115 will be described. To avoid havingrandom erroneous signals causing erroneous determinations, theprocessing device 125 averages samples of the signal and uses theaverage in the algorithms discussed below for making determinationsregarding the sensed distance. In the example of FIG. 6, after startingup 605 and completing a warm up routine 610, the processing device 125reads an analog signal from the distance sensing device 115 and performsan analog to digital (ADC) conversion 615 to allow the processing device125 to process digital signals corresponding to the analog signalsoutput by the distance sensing device 115. To process the digitalsignals, they are stored 620. After the first signal is stored 620, atimer is started, and the process checks 625 whether the timer hasreached 1000 milliseconds (1 second). If not, after 100 milliseconds haspassed 630, another sample of the analog signal is read 615, convertedto digital, and stored 620. In response to determining that the timerreached 1000 milliseconds 625 whereupon ten samples are stored, thestored samples or digital signal readings are averaged 635 (thuseffecting a sampling rate of ten Hertz), and the timer is re-set tozero. The processing device 125 then uses the average result todetermine the state 640 of the distance detector, i.e., how far away isa detected object such as a leading vehicle 120. Alternatively, theaverage result can be sent via a serial bus connection to anotherprocessing device for determining the state 640.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in various applications, the housing 105 ofthe apparatus 100 can be mounted using a mount 128 to the user's vehicle110 in any suitable manner so that the distance sensing device 115 canreliably detect a leading vehicle 120. When used in a bicycle context,the housing 105 can be mounted to, for example, the handle bars, centersupport, wheel support, or the like. With reference to FIGS. 2-5, oneexample mounting system suitable for use on bicycles will be described.A mount 205 includes a base 210 defining a curved side 215 configured toengage a support surface of the user's vehicle 110. A shaft 220 extendsfrom a side 225 of the base 210 opposite that of the curved side 215.The shaft 220 includes at least one flange 230. The housing 240 of thisexample defines a curved slot 242 on at least two of the housing's 240sides 244, 246, 248. The curved slot 242 is sized to engage and receivethe shaft 220 and the at least one flange 230 to securely position thehousing 240 relative to the user's vehicle's 110 structure. This curvedshape of the curved slot 242 allows for multiple places and angles atwhich the housing 105 can be mounted. Although the housing 105 isillustrated having a particular shape and size, the housing 105 can havea variety of shapes, sizes, and configurations and still meet anycombination of the teachings of this disclosure. The mount 205 in thisexample includes a plurality of inwardly facing hooks 250 configured tohold an elastic member that can engage the hooks 250 and wrap around aportion of the bicycle to secure the mount 205. The curved side 215 ofthe mount 205 may include a friction surface to further secure the mountto the bicycle, preventing slipping.

FIG. 5 illustrates a pin 260 that inserts into the mount 205 through themiddle of the shaft 220. The pin shaft 262 extends through the shaft 220to engage an inner portion of the curved slot 242 of the housing 240. Aflanged portion 264 of the pin 260 engages and is pressed by the uservehicle portion on which the mount 205 is attached. So configured, thepressure of the user vehicle portion on the flanged portion 264 pushedthe pin 206 through the shaft's 220 aperture 232 to engage the housing240 thereby locking the mount 205 and the housing 240 in place.

With respect to mounting on a bicycle, the device may be mounted at anyof various different locations on a bicycle. For example, the device maybe mounted directly on the handlebars, the head tube, or the front fork.Mounting on the front fork may be less than ideal because the frontwheel may interfere with the device's operation. If the device ismounted on the left side of the front fork, for example, the device mayhave difficulty in reliably detecting a leading bicycle positioned aheadbut slightly to the right. Also, if mounted on the front fork inproximity to the wheel, the device may be susceptible to damage in theevent that it is displaced into contact with the wheel. As one possiblesolution to these problems, the device may be mounted on a cantileverextending forward from the fork or from the frame or handlebars.Alternatively, to provide a more rigid support, the device may bemounted on a strut extending from the fork to the handlebars. The strutmay be rigidly connected to the handlebars and to the fork and mayprovide a range of positions for the device such that the device may beadjusted upward or downward along the strut to a suitable position.

Referring again to FIG. 1, an indicator 130 is operatively connected toreceive signals from the processing device 125 to control provision ofan indication to the user regarding application of distance based rulesto the user's vehicle 110. The indicator 130 can comprise any indicatorsuitable to notify the user of the information regarding the distanceand penalty aspects discussed herein. FIG. 2 illustrates three lightsthat can light in three different colors corresponding to threedifferent conditions of the sensed distance. For instance, the firstlight 231 may light green to indicate that the distance detector doesnot sense a leading vehicle within a penalty distance of the user'svehicle. A second light 233 may light yellow to indicate that the user'svehicle is within a penalty distance but that the user has not violateda time limit for being within the penalty distance. A third light 235may light red to indicate that the user's vehicle has violated adrafting rule. Other indicators may include an alphanumeric display, anaudio output, or the like that can communicate to a user. Other optionsfor communicating racing distance and penalty information are discussedherein. Accordingly, the indicator 130 may be mounted on or within thehousing 105 or be separate from the housing 105 and located in adifferent place on or within the user's vehicle 110. The indicator 130may be connected to communicate with the processing device 115wirelessly or via a wired connections.

The processing device 125 is configured to monitor the signal from thedistance sensing device 115 to determine whether the user's vehicle 110is within a penalty distance and to monitor an amount of time that theuser's vehicle 110 is within the penalty distance. Those skilled in theart will recognize and appreciate that such a processor can comprise afixed-purpose hard-wired platform or can comprise a partially or whollyprogrammable platform or can include a plurality of processors workingtogether. All of these architectural options are well known andunderstood in the art and require no further description here.

FIG. 7 illustrates one example circuit diagram for the apparatus 100.This includes a power source 702 such as a battery that provides a fivevolt power signal for the circuit and a power switch 704 that can turnon and off the apparatus 100 by connecting and disconnecting the powersource 702. The distance sensor 715 is wired to a processor device 725that is connected to a quartz crystal oscillator 727, which provides thetiming signal for the processor device 725. Here, the indicator includesthree separately wired light emitting diodes 731, 733, and 735 that arecontrolled by the processing device 725. This example also includes auser switch 737 that can start and stop the processing device's 725tracking distance.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example circuit diagram, which exampleillustrates a two processor approach where a first processor 824 takesand averages signals from the sensor 715, which averaged results areprovided over the serial line 821 to a second processor 825 (using asecond oscillator 827) that makes the distance and penaltydeterminations as described herein.

The processing device 125 is further configured to control the indicator130 to provide a first indication in response to determining that theuser's vehicle 110 is within the penalty distance from a leading vehicle120. This would correspond to the example of lighting a yellow light 233as discussed with reference to FIG. 2. The processing device 125 can befurther configured to control the indicator to provide a secondindication in response to determining that the user's vehicle 110 iswithin the penalty distance from a leading vehicle 120 for more than athreshold amount of time. In the context of a triathlon, this secondindication would be provided in response to sensing that the user'svehicle 110 is within the penalty distance of a leading vehicle 120 formore than 15 seconds. This second indication would correspond to theexample of lighting a red light 235 as discussed with reference to FIG.2. Similarly, the processing device 125 can be further configured tocontrol the indicator 130 to provide an indication that the user'svehicle 110 is outside of the penalty distance of a leading vehicle 120.This indication would correspond to the example of lighting a greenlight 231 as discussed with reference to FIG. 2.

The processing device 125 can be further configured to take into accountvarious race conditions that could determine whether a penalty isultimately assessed. The following examples relate to triathlon rulesgoverning the bicycle portion of the competition, but similar rulesgoverning other situations can be applied. For instance, the processingdevice 125 can be configured to account for passing rules. In oneexample, the processing device 125 is configured to determine whetherthe user's vehicle 110 is decreasing the distance between the distancesensing device 115 and the leading vehicle 120 while the user's vehicle110 is within the penalty distance. In response to determining that thedistance is continually decreasing, the processing device 125 will notprovide the second indication in response to determining that the user'svehicle 110 is within the penalty distance from a leading vehicle 120for more than the threshold amount of time, thereby accounting for theuser's vehicle 110 executing a pass of the leading vehicle 120.

In another example, various race courses may have stretches wheredrafting penalties are waived because of inevitable bunching of riderssuch as during long hill climbs or in particularly curved portions ofthe race course. Accordingly, the apparatus 100 can be configured to notindicate or record a penalty against the user when riding through theseareas of the course. In one approach, the apparatus 100 includes awireless receiver 140 operatively connected to the processing device125. The wireless receiver 140 receives a disable wireless signal from awireless transmitter 145 located along a race route. The processingdevice 125 in this case is configured to not monitor the signal from thedistance detecting device 115 to determine whether the user's vehicle110 is within the penalty distance in response to receiving a disablesignal from the wireless receiver 140. The monitoring may automaticallyrestart after a period of time after receiving the disable signal. Inanother approach, the wireless receiver 140 can be further configured toreceive an enable wireless signal from a wireless transmitter 145located along the race route such that the processing device 125re-enables monitoring of the signal to determine whether the user'svehicle 110 is within the penalty distance in response to receiving anenable signal from the wireless receiver 140. These enable/disabletransmitters 145 can be any short range or other wireless communicationsystem that can signal to the apparatus 100 that is has passed a givenpoint on the race course. This can include radio frequencyidentification signals (RFID) or others. Such systems are known for usein race situations to track timing of racers. Other such systems can beused. By still another approach, a GPS type system can be incorporatedinto the apparatus 100 to track location sufficient to toggle between anenabled and disabled mode with respect to tracking drafting penalties.In other approaches, the apparatus 100 can be configured to receivesignals from transmitters 145 along the course to tag in time where theapparatus 100 passed the transmitters 145, and the course location canbe correlated to a point in time in the apparatus 100 by the processingdevice 125. These methods may also be applied to activate and deactivatethe apparatus 100 at the beginning and end of a race. So configured, theapparatus 100 is self-sufficient and does not require any other externalhardware.

In another approach, the processing device 125 can receive speed signalsregarding a speed of the user's vehicle 110 from a speedometer 150 or155. The speedometer 150 can be mounted within the apparatus 100 orelsewhere on the user vehicle 110. The processing device 125 candetermine an approximate location of the user's vehicle 110 based on arecorded history of the user's vehicle's speed by referencing a storedrecord of portions of the race course where drafting penalties will notbe applied. Accordingly, the processing device 125 will not monitor thesignal from the distance sensing device 115 to determine whether theuser's vehicle 110 is within the penalty distance in response todetermining that the user's vehicle 110 is in a portion of a race courseexempt from drafting penalties. In still another approach, if the speedof the user's vehicle 110 decreases in a set way (as may occur whenapproaching a curve, climbing a slope, trying to avoid an obstacle, ortrying to avoid a crash), the device 100 may be set to not assess apenalty.

In yet another approach, the device may be configured with certainpattern recognition algorithms to determine whether the sensed distanceshould be penalized or disregarded as fitting a pattern consistent withpermissible riding such as riding in conditions where being within adrafting zone is permitted. For instance, the apparatus 100 may includean accelerometer 165, which is configured to detect vibration, connectedto send signals to the processing device 125 regarding the amount ofvibration detected. A rider may ride through a race course to record avibration pattern for the course. A later rider can use the recordedvibration pattern as may be stored in the memory 160 by having theprocessing device 125 compare a presently detected vibration patternssensed by the accelerometer 165 to determine where the user's vehicle110 is within the course. The accelerometer 165 can further be used tosense deceleration or speed of the user's vehicle 110, which informationthe processing device 125 can use to disable tracking of penalties bydetermining based on the deceleration or speed that the user's vehicle110 is in a portion of the race where drafting penalties are waived. Forinstance, the user's vehicle 110 can ride without drafting penalty whenapproaching a curve, climbing a slope, trying to avoid an obstacle, ortrying to avoid a crash, each of which has a signature deceleration orspeed reduction. By sensing the signature deceleration or speedreduction via the signals from the accelerometer 165 and/or other speeddetection devices 150 and 155, the processing device 125 canresponsively disable distance detection or penalty tracking.

Several use cases further illustrate how the apparatus 100 may operate.In a typical triathlon, when passing a rider, you are allowed to be intheir slipstream for a maximum of 15 seconds. After this time period,drafting is penalized. There are no regulations about exiting the draftand getting back into it. As a result, a Triathlete could use theapparatus 100 to take advantage of this situation by entering theillegal drafting zone for 15 seconds, exiting, and re-entering all overagain. Algorithms may be applied to avoid this result. For example, theapparatus 100 may be configured to track time in between exiting andre-entering the illegal drafting zone and/or track how often over agiven time period a rider exits and re-enters the illegal drafting zone.

In another example, a rider is passing another rider, and the analogvoltage signal from the distance sensing device 115 increasesproportionally with the speed at which the rider is passing. If theanalog voltage signal continues to increase during a course of 15seconds, and there is a jump in the signal that would not beproportional to the user vehicle's 110 passing speed, no penalty isrecorded. This does not matter whether the rider enters another draftingzone of the rider in front of them as long as the rider is stillprogressing forward on the next rider. If the rider is progressingforward, the rider will enter another 15 second passing period for thenext passing session. This step through of passing sessions is called“Passing Progression.”

Consider the example where a rider enters the draft of another rider,but the rider does not enter into a Passing Progression. If the riderdoes not progressively pass the Triathlete on the leading vehicle andinstead exits the drafting zone before 15 seconds passes, penalties willbe recorded for the duration that the rider traveled in the draft.

In still another example, a rider enters the draft of another riderbeginning to progressively pass, but the rider fails to pass within 15seconds. At the end of the 15 second passing period, recording of timein the penalty distance begins for reporting and assessment of penaltiesagainst the rider.

In yet another example, a rider enters the draft of another riderbeginning to progressively pass, but the rider cannot manage the pass.Accordingly, the rider exits the drafting zone within the 15 seconddrafting period. The rider can either demonstrate a partial pass(Passing Progression for part of the drafting period, then exit left orright out of the draft—resulting in an analog jump in the signal fromthe distance sensing device 115), or the rider can perform a partialpass and then exit the draft in the reverse manner, in which case theanalog voltage signal decreases as the distance between the ridersgrows. In either case, the apparatus does not record or indicate apenalty. These examples will be referred to as partial with bail, andpartial with reverse exit, respectively.

FIG. 9 illustrates one example approach to detecting a PassingProgression. Here the processing device 125 waits 905 for a distancemeasurement and stores 910 it as a number. When using the samplecollection method described above with reference to FIG. 6, a distancemeasurement is taken every second. Next, the processing device 125determines 915 whether three samples have been taken. If not, the sampleis stored 920 until a next sample is collected one second later. Afterthree samples have been stored, the processing device 125 averages 925the samples and stores 930 the averaged result in an array. Next theprocessing device 125 determines 935 whether the array stores fiveaveraged results. If not, steps 905, 910, 915, 920, 925, and 930 arerepeated until the array stores five averaged results. Then, theprocessing device 125 determines whether the averaged results increasedsequentially, which would indicate that a sensed object such as aleading vehicle 120 is getting closer to the distance sensing device 115over the fifteen second of collecting the information in the array. Ifnot, the processing device 125 will control 945 the indicator to showone indicator to indicate a possibility of assessment of a penalty. Ifso, thereby indicating a Passing Progression, the processing device 125will control 950 the indicator to show another indicator to indicate noassessment of a penalty at that time.

Unfortunately, some riders may try to trick the apparatus 100 byselectively entering and exiting the drafting zone or penalty distanceto maximize drafting while not incurring a penalty as may be applied bythe apparatus 100. In addition to application of the above processes tohelp discern the behavior of the rider, trickery of the apparatus 100can be mitigated by tracking a history of the user vehicle's 110entering and exiting the penalty distance and assessing a penalty if thehistory indicates abusive racing behavior. In one such approach, theapparatus 100 will include a memory 160 operatively connected to theprocessing device 125 such that the processing device 125 can store ahistory of the user's vehicle 110 entering and exiting the penaltydistance from a leading vehicle 120 and determine a successive patternin the user's vehicle 110 entering and exiting the penalty distance froma leading vehicle 120. In response to determining the successivepattern, the processing device 125 records in the memory device 170 atotal amount of time that the user's vehicle 110 is within the penaltydistance from a leading vehicle 120 during the successive pattern. Forexample, if a partial with bail and/or partial with reverse exit isrepeated on the same rider and/or group of riders, the apparatus 100 canrecord the time that was spent in the drafting zone or penalty distance.

In addition to providing real time feedback to a user regarding distancedeterminations and the possible assessment of penalties, the apparatus100 can be configured to store this information and provide it to a raceofficial for assessment of any accrued penalties. In one approach, theapparatus 100 includes a memory device 160 operatively connected to theprocessing device 125 such that the processing device 125 stores in thememory device 160 a number of times that the user's vehicle 110 waswithin the penalty distance of a leading vehicle 120 for more than thethreshold amount of time. This information can then be sent from thememory device 160 or accessed in the memory device 160 for assessment ofthe penalties. For instance, the apparatus 100 may include a wirelesstransmitter 170 configured to transmit information conveying the numberof times that the user's vehicle 110 was within the penalty distance ofa leading vehicle 120 for more than the threshold amount of time to adevice reader 175. The device reader 175 may be disposed at the end of abicycle portion of a triathlon or held by a race official to read thisinformation from the apparatus 100 immediately upon the user'scompleting the bicycle course. The transmitter 170 and receiver 140 maybe separate or combined devices as known in the art and capable ofsupporting the wireless communication discussed here. By anotherapproach, the processing device 125 can control the indicator 130 toprovide relevant penalty information such as an indication conveying thenumber of times that the user's vehicle was within the penalty distanceof a leading vehicle for more than the threshold amount of time, whichindication can come at the end of the bicycle course for reading by arace official who will implement any penalties. Other options includehaving at least a portion of the memory device 160 being a removablememory that is readily read by another device to assess penalty relatedor other racing information.

It should be noted that various combinations of various aspects of theabove described approaches and modifications to the presently preferredembodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in theart in view of this disclosure. For instance, the teachings of thisdisclosure may be readily modified to apply in a variety of othersettings that deal with motion, patterns, proximity, or distanceregulation/monitoring. Such settings include, for example, medicinewhere biomechanics or biochemistry use motion capture and motionrecognition, monitoring and recognizing motions and movement patterns,or recognizing blood flow and fluid motion or musculoskeletal motionswhere the device was significantly reduced in size. Other settingsinclude NASCAR or Formula One Racing for monitoring and/or regulatingdistance between cars, traffic monitoring systems for recognizingpatterns and using them to communicate heavy traffic areas or road use,traffic safety where car distances are monitored for safety and forcar/pedestrian distance monitoring, go-cart racing for keeping a safedistance between carts, driving lessons to monitor tailgating, roadkill/animal-vehicle safety for alerting when animals cross roads,security systems to recognize patterns of movement and sound alarms,fitness monitoring systems for estimating energy expenditure byrecognizing activities, motion pattern detectors for recognizing motionsof people doing work in a factory, animals in their environment, and thelike for research purposes, and weather monitoring for recording andmonitoring movement of plants and trees to detect wind patterns (or wavepatterns) to alert when storms are likely to occur. Such changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for monitoring distance behind amoving vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a housing configured to mountto a user's vehicle, the housing containing at least: a distance sensingdevice configured to output a signal proportional to a distance betweenthe distance sensing device and a leading vehicle, a processing devicein communication with the distance sensing device to receive the signal;an indicator operatively connected to receive signals from theprocessing device to control provision of an indication to the userregarding application of distance based rules to the user's vehicle. 2.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processing device is configured tomonitor the signal to determine whether the user's vehicle is within apenalty distance and to monitor an amount of time that the user'svehicle is within the penalty distance.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2wherein the processing device is further configured to control theindicator to provide a first indication in response to determining thatthe user's vehicle is within the penalty distance from a leadingvehicle.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processing device isfurther configured to control the indicator to provide a secondindication in response to determining that the user's vehicle is withinthe penalty distance from a leading vehicle for more than a thresholdamount of time.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the processingdevice is further configured to: determine whether the user's vehicle isdecreasing the distance between the distance sensing device and theleading vehicle while the user's vehicle is within the penalty distance,and in response to determining that the distance is continuallydecreasing, not providing the second indication in response todetermining that the user's vehicle is within the penalty distance froma leading vehicle for more than the threshold amount of time.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 5 further comprising a memory device operativelyconnected to the processing device, wherein the processing device isconfigured to: store a history of the user's vehicle entering andexiting the penalty distance from a leading vehicle, determine asuccessive pattern in the user's vehicle entering and exiting thepenalty distance from a leading vehicle, and in response to determiningthe successive pattern, recording in the memory device a total amount oftime that the user's vehicle is within the penalty distance from aleading vehicle during the successive pattern.
 7. The apparatus of claim5 further comprising a memory device operatively connected to theprocessing device, wherein the processing device is configured to storein the memory device a number of times that the user's vehicle waswithin the penalty distance of a leading vehicle for more than thethreshold amount of time.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprisinga wireless transmitter configured to transmit information conveying thenumber of times that the user's vehicle was within the penalty distanceof a leading vehicle for more than the threshold amount of time.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 5 further comprising wherein the processing device isfurther configured to control the indicator to provide an indicationconveying the number of times that the user's vehicle was within thepenalty distance of a leading vehicle for more than the threshold amountof time.
 10. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising wherein theprocessing device is further configured to control the indicator toprovide an indication that the user's vehicle is outside of the penaltydistance of a leading vehicle.
 11. The apparatus of claim 2 furthercomprising a wireless receiver operatively connected to the processingdevice and configured to receive a disable wireless signal from awireless transmitter located along a race route, wherein the processingdevice is configured to not monitor the signal to determine whether theuser's vehicle is within the penalty distance in response to receiving adisable signal from the wireless receiver.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11further comprising the wireless receiver's being configured to receivean enable wireless signal from a wireless transmitter located along therace route, wherein the processing device is configured to re-enablemonitoring the signal to determine whether the user's vehicle is withinthe penalty distance in response to receiving an enable signal from thewireless receiver.
 13. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the processingdevice is configured to: receive speed signals regarding a speed of theuser's vehicle; determine an approximate location of the user's vehiclebased on a recorded history of the user's vehicle's speed; not monitorthe signal to determine whether the user's vehicle is within the penaltydistance in response to determining that the user's vehicle is in aportion of a race course exempt from drafting penalties.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 1 further comprising a mount, the mount comprising: abase defining a curved side configured to engage a support structure ofthe user's vehicle; a shaft extending from a side of the base oppositethat of the curved side, the shaft including at least one flange;wherein the housing defines a curved slot on a least two of thehousing's sides, the curved slot sized to engage and receive the shaftand the at least one flange to securely position the housing relative tothe user's vehicle's structure.
 15. A method for monitoring distancebehind a moving vehicle, the method comprising: sensing by a distancesensing device a distance between the distance sensing device as mountedon a user's vehicle and a leading vehicle; outputting a signal from thedistance sensing device to a processing device, the signal proportionalto the distance between the distance sensing device and the leadingvehicle; effecting provision of an indication to the user from anindicator regarding application of distance based rules to the user'svehicle based on the sensing by the distance sensing device.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 further comprising: monitoring the signal todetermine whether the user's vehicle is within a penalty distance; andmonitoring an amount of time that the user's vehicle is within thepenalty distance.
 17. The method of claim 16 further comprisingcontrolling the indicator to provide a first indication in response todetermining that the user's vehicle is within the penalty distance froma leading vehicle.
 18. The method of claim 17 further comprisingcontrolling the indicator to provide a second indication in response todetermining that the user's vehicle is within the penalty distance froma leading vehicle for more than a threshold amount of time.
 19. Themethod of claim 18 further comprising: determining whether the user'svehicle is decreasing the distance between the distance sensing deviceand the leading vehicle while the user's vehicle is within the penaltydistance; and in response to determining that the distance iscontinually decreasing, not providing the second indication in responseto determining that the user's vehicle is within the penalty distancefrom a leading vehicle for more than the threshold amount of time. 20.The method of claim 19 further comprising determining a successivepattern in the user's vehicle entering and exiting the penalty distancefrom a leading vehicle, and in response to determining the successivepattern, recording a total amount of time that the user's vehicle iswithin the penalty distance from a leading vehicle during the successivepattern.
 21. The method of claim 19 further comprising storing a numberof times that the user's vehicle was within the penalty distance of aleading vehicle for more than the threshold amount of time.
 22. Themethod of claim 19 further comprising transmitting information conveyingthe number of times that the user's vehicle was within the penaltydistance of a leading vehicle for more than the threshold amount oftime.
 23. The method of claim 19 further comprising controlling theindicator to provide an indication conveying the number of times thatthe user's vehicle was within the penalty distance of a leading vehiclefor more than the threshold amount of time.
 24. The method of claim 16further comprising controlling the indicator to provide an indicationthat the user's vehicle is outside of the penalty distance of a leadingvehicle.
 25. The method of claim 16 further comprising: receiving adisable wireless signal from a wireless transmitter located along a raceroute; and not monitoring the signal to determine whether the user'svehicle is within the penalty distance in response to receiving thedisable wireless signal.
 26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:receiving an enable wireless signal from a wireless transmitter locatedalong the race route; and monitoring the signal to determine whether theuser's vehicle is within the penalty distance in response to receivingthe enable wireless signal.
 27. The method of claim 16 furthercomprising: receiving speed signals regarding a speed of the user'svehicle; determining an approximate location of the user's vehicle basedon a recorded history of the user's vehicle's speed; not monitoring thesignal to determine whether the user's vehicle is within the penaltydistance in response to determining that the user's vehicle is in aportion of a race course exempt from drafting penalties.